aquaplane

Thanks so much Wetpixellers, you've come to my rescue again.

I put black electrical tape all around the front corner of the housing and left a small window where the FO cable was fixed by the mounting block. Working wonderfully now! This is all still a mystery to me so thanks everyone for being patient with me. (Hi again, Jim!).

Hi,

I'll try and help!

The fibre optic sensor on your strobe picks up the ammount of flash that the camera is using to acheieve correct exposure and effectively replicates it. In order for it to do this, it must be able to "see" the cameras flash output. I'm not sure where you are sticking the tape, but if it is on the cameras flash itself, there is not enough camera flash getting through and hence the strobe if firing at full. Most fibre optic kits have a flash reducer that attaches externally onto the housing-with the end of the fibre optic "inside"-so it can pick up the flash.

Hope that helps.

Adam

Ahh that makes so much more sense now! You're right - I did have the tape on the camera body itself. So I'm guessing now I need to figure out some way to block my camera's internal flash while still letting enough light through to my fiber optic cable. I have a fiber optic mounting block from reefphoto that just sticks to the outside of the housing http://reefphoto.com...roducts_id=4023 but that's all I received with the kit. Would really appreciate recommendations from anyone!

Thanks for the suggestion Andy, I'll give it a go ASAP.

What I'm a bit confused about is why the TTL function seems to be "working" ok when the internal flash of my camera is uncovered, but is wayyy out as soon as I cover up that flash. I know next to nothing about the intricacies of strobes or cameras and I just can't figure out why it would happen! I'm positive that it's a user error, but if anyone else has experienced (and resolved) something similar with the D2000 I'd love to hear from you.

Wow, even more info!

Jim, was wondering how long it would take before I bumped into you. I stalk around the place a bit (creepy...) and have seen some of your new dSLR pics. It looks like there's no stopping you! If you're THAT keen to snap a handfish, they're surprisingly easy to find down here in Tassie if you know the right places to look. You'll find them on the most boring dives in the world where everything else is apparently dead, but those little guys make the boredom all worthwhile.

I'm not too concerned about the lack of an electronic sync cable because realistically I'm not going to be investing in an SLR for many years (if ever) on a continued student salary. I would however like a strobe that will work in well with any compact that I decide to upgrade to. I trawled through some more threads and it seems there's enough of you rooting for the D-2000 for the EA mode thingimy and the more even strobe coverage to make it sound like the more attractive option for +$100ish. I emailed Ryan at ReefPhoto and he advised me that the EA system is a little outdated and much more prone to user error compared with S-TTL, but I guess if you don't have the option of using TTL then you do whatever you can! I do like the idea of an aiming light also. It will probably remove a bit of the guesswork with aiming when I'm learning how to use the thing.

Unless anyone else has drastically different ideas, I think I might go for a D-2000. Again, thank you all so much for your help

Also, if anyone knows where I can find an online manual for the s2000, please send me the link. I think I left mine in Lembeh and can't seem to find one online.

I'm not sure if the manual for the D-2000 is sufficiently similar to the S-2000 to be helpful, but just in case: http://www.deduiker......ed Manual.pdf